YOUR REPS IN CONCORD State budget addressed in first year of biennium

Tuesday

Mar 24, 2015 at 8:59 AMMar 24, 2015 at 8:59 AM

In the interest of sharing our thoughts and experiences in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, a group of Dover representatives has come together to write this weekly column on a rotating basis. We look forward to your feedback. Please send comments to the writer of each column; contact information below. Thank you.

The first year of each legislative term is the budget year. In February, the Governor proposes a budget based on revenue projections and departmental needs, and the House Ways and Means presents its two year revenue projection. Bills that involve spending or raising money need to be heard both by a policy committee and by a money committee (Finance or Ways and Means), and policy committee reports for these need to be voted on by mid-February. All nonbudget bills need to be acted on by mid-March to leave time for the money committees to work out the budget bills (HB 1, HB 2, and HB 25). Although many bills get handled in a non-partisan way, the budget is one place where each party tries to exert its will. Because the House is about 60% Republican this term, the House budget will be a reflection of their priorities.

Money committees have been busy this past week with work sessions, hearing from departments and bill sponsors, and deciding what to include the budget, and to cut. Members of other committees, however, have had time to breath, and to gather what they can about the decisions being made by Finance and Ways and Means. So far, I have not found the news encouraging. It looks like the budget will include substantial cuts to the Department of Transportation and Health and Human Services.

Recognizing that NH would not get as much Federal funding as in the past, the Governor included an increase in vehicle registration fees to cover the gap. Ways and Means rejected the fee increase, and in turn, Finance proposed an $88.2 million dollar cut to DOT. The effects? Layoffs for over 690 employees; closure of 50 maintenance sheds and at least 2 district offices; loss most federal matching funds for projects and services; an end to almost all DOT construction programs; and downshifting of maintenance of 2500 miles of roadway and up to 1000 bridges to local communities.

Three years ago, New Hampshire was sued for failing to provide necessary mental health programs and failing to reimburse hospitals appropriately for uncompensated care. (Services provided to those who can’t pay — hospitals get some Medicaid dollars to cover this.) Last term, after spending millions of dollars in legal fees, and losing judgments in district and superior courts, NH settled with the plaintiffs, and agreed to specific terms to correct the problems. Now, the Finance committee’s decisions to underfund the mental health settlement by $29 million and underpay uncompensated care by $31 million, expose us to further expensive lawsuits and threaten our state’s bond rating. And the human costs? The money for mental health would have paid for effective outpatient services across the state and crisis services at the New Hampshire Hospital. The effect will be to send more citizens with mental health crises to emergency rooms. This will endanger E.R. personnel, fail to provide patients with appropriate care, and shift the very expensive E.R. costs to uncompensated care. Since the state would be underfunding that as well, it would drive up overall health care costs, which the insured would pay for with higher premiums.

The budget also includes $20 million in cuts to nursing home care, $10.5 million in cuts to elderly service such as Meals on Wheels and ServiceLink, and $52 million in services to individuals with developmental disabilities.

Possibly the worst idea on the table is to include in the budget a refusal to renew authorization for the New Hampshire Health Protection Plan (NHHPP) which has used federal funding to enable over 36,000 formerly uninsured citizens to get health insurance. The positive effects of the NHHPP are already being seen. The New Hampshire Hospital Association reports that in the last six months, uninsured hospital visits have decreased by 17%. The Business and Industry Association sees renewing the NHHPP as a priority. Why would we discard a program that is saving our citizens and businesses money and improving our state’s health? Why would we make budget cuts that will hurt citizens and businesses?

Without these draconian cuts, it would not be possible to reduce state business taxes as the Senate is trying to do. But with these cuts, the costs will come back to us in a different, possibly much worse form.

Peter Bixby is the Strafford 17 district state representative. He can be contacted at peter.bixby@leg.state.nh.us.

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